Things you might not know about me

The awesome Alana from Housegoeshome has nominated my blog for a Liebster award! For those that don’t know, the Liebster awards are an opportunity for bloggers to answer questions about themselves and then nominate other bloggers to do the same. It’s a great way to discover new blogs.

What makes you happy?
Having a hearty chuckle with my son. hearing him singing to himself after he’s gone to bed. Watching him in his element. When my family is happy. sitting in a cafe with a hot coffee and my laptop or a notepad, maybe with a scroll of some sort (of carbohydrate, not paper). Sister-jokes with my sister. Having a wine (as opposed to a whine) and chat with friends. Writing, blogging, taking photos, colouring in. Time for craft. Being in the flow of creating something. A good night’s sleep.

Why did you start blogging?
I blog because I enjoy the process, and sometimes I just feel a need to tell a story. I like packaging words and photos together and sharing information. I also wanted a “digital scrapbook” of sorts.

I started reading blogs when I was home with my new baby 7 years ago, and I realised that what I write doesn’t just have to sit in a drawer going to waste (well some most of what I write should) but some of it, I wanted to put out there for other people to read, and hopefully enjoy. But it took me a few years to get the confidence to actually put it out there and to define the focus of Alexcellent. I’m still defining it, but it’s morphing into more of a food and lifestyle blog.

What’s the best thing anyone has ever said about your blog?
People have said certain posts are funny, well-written, and that the photos are good.

What is the one piece of advice you would offer or one saying you live by? Sorry, there’s going to be more than one here…Progress, not perfection. If you want to do something, just start it, because it is in the doing that it takes shape. I tend to be reluctant to start things until it’s all perfectly planned, I need to take my own advice and “just do it!” I wish I’d started blogging years ago – I’m not exactly a futurist; When I was trying desperately to “break into magazines” in the early 90s, someone advised me, “You should write a gossip column – on The Internet”, to which I replied with a derisive snort, “The Internet?? That’ll never take off!”.

Also, enjoy the little moments. Life itself is difficult (as M. Scott Peck reminds us in The Road Less Travelled – and it is), but try to be conscious of the things you enjoy or are grateful for during particular moments. Being able to isolate and appreciate little chunks of good, makes life sweeter. Tend your roses – the rocky patches will still be there, but hopefully if you tend your roses, you won’t notice the rocky patches so much. (Picked up that sparkler of a metaphor in a positive psychology seminar during my time in the Public Service).

What are your top three bucket list items?

1.Take my son to Disneyland

2. Write a novel and have it published. A proper hard-copy novel.

3. More travel generally.

There’s many more items on this bucket list but I will stop at three today as requested.

What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?
Lightweight popular culture; Celebrity gossip in trashy mags (feeling guilty just writing it) and second-rate reality TV. I know it’s such a waste of time, nothing more than brain-candy (everything in moderation though, right?). Caught a cracker of an episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners last night, the show where obsessive compulsive cleaners meet housework-dodging hoarders (perhaps I should actually clean the house instead of watching people literally dry-retching at the sight of other people’s dirt and clutter). Also, every year I say I’m NOT going to watch The Bachelor, yet I always get sucked into it. And I just know I’m going to succumb to Farmer Wants a Wife.

What is the one product or service you can’t live without?
The Internet! Ha! Note the irony. I could live without it, but in this day and age would be very frustrated without it.

What’s your favourite Australian travel destination?
I love north eastern Victoria and all those tiny little towns (Beechworth, Bright) on the way up to the Victorian Alps, and all the ski fields. Also south east Queensland. And Cairns.

What two countries make you happiest to visit?
My first pick is definitely Hawaii (I know it’s a US state, but to me it’s like a country in it’s own right). Hawaii is more than a geographical location, it’s the Aloha vibe. I really loved England when I was there 16 years ago and would love to go back and see more of it.

What is your dream destination?
See above. And also Alaska. Never been but would love to see it. I like the extremes. And somewhere else rural and rustic. And Paris.